A Day of Fun and Reality

Yesterday, I had 5 classes, and only had one 2 hour break from 5 to 7. Other than that I had classes from 8 a.m. until 9:30 p.m. It was a very intense and mentally draining day. Besides a little reading of my own, I did not do much besides class yesterday. My teachers are quite different. I have a 2 strong practicing Jewish professors, a non-religious Israeli extremist, an evangelical Biblical scholar, and another young female evangelical scholar. I really do like the work that I am doing. Besides one class which I switched, I enjoy all my classes. The work load is crazy, though. I would say that it is comparable to Taylor in some ways. There is a ton of reading. This will take up most of my time. Today, I read for almost 7 hours. Other than reading time, there is not much other work. In one class all I have is one 5 page paper assignment the whole semester; no other work. It is surely different than Taylor’s Christian Ed. where I’m used to 2 or 3 papers a week.

Today, I did not have any classes. Some of us got us at 8 had breakfast and headed out. We went on another 5 hour walk around the city to see some of the sights. We went to the Garden Tomb, one of the places that Jesus is thought to be buried. This is also located right next to what is known as Skull Mountain. I can see why people think that this is the burial place of Christ, but I’m not too convinced. We also visited and looked around what is known as Solomon’s Quarry. This is the place where much, if not all, of the stone was taken out and used by Solomon to build his city walls and the temple. The quarry was a cool oasis from the hot Israel air. We trekked down, far past where the lights reached. I felt like I was a member of the Goonies. Haha. Actually, it was a little frightening, many times random water would just fall from the top of the cave and get us wet. We found a lot of weird object down there as well. We didn’t stay too long, though, for this was all in the “Do Not Enter” part of the cave. Either way, it was a lot of fun. Lastly, we walked around the entire city of Jerusalem on top of the city walls. There were many great views that could be seen from this height. I took almost 200 pictures alone today.

I am getting a little tired of the food. I know, I said just a few days ago that it was good, and it was. Now, though, I’m beginning to realize that every meal involves mostly vegetable, and some kind of rice. Honestly, the food is good, no one else really complains, but if you know me, you know that I cannot eat vegetables everyday. I have been still eating a little of them, though, and making a lot of peanut butter sandwiches. Even the peanut butter tastes different here though. I really want a big juicy Cheeseburger and a whole plate of fries. Mmmm.

I am beginning to realize that this is not a fantasy land. This is just another place to live, and another place to be at school. Yeah, it is Christ walked, and there is a lot of history here, but like any other place this is a place of difficulty. I’m not talking about all the hostility here; I’m talking about me, myself. Although I didn’t think it to be true, I think there was still a part of me deep down that thought that certain temptations and difficulties would not be able to find me in the Holy Land. As I said above, I’m finding out that this is not true. It is just as hard to live for Christ here and deal with certain issues here as it is in the states. This might sound like a simple truth to many of you, but for me it was a hard realization. I’m not on a huge emotional high trip. I am just living in a great place.